The view from the White House Briefing Room as U.S. President Joe Biden announces his decision not to seek re-election on July 21. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Contributing Columnist Emily Tamkin July 21, 2024

President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race is an astonishing moment in U.S. political history — one that Democrats across the country are greeting with a mixture of shock and relief. Jewish tradition has an idea tailor-made to help us process moments of generational change like this one: “L’dor vador.”

The phrase “L’dor vador” means “from generation to generation,” and is found repeatedly throughout the Bible. It sometimes refers to God’s endurance, as in Psalm 135:13: “Oh Lord, your Name endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, through all generations.” But it is most commonly understood, in Jewish text and in Jewish life, as an expression of the belief that, if a tradition is precious to you, you need to not only hold onto it and keep it safe. You must pass it on to your children, imparting to them why they, too, should want to cherish and sustain it.

Living by the principle of “l’dor vador” makes life fuller, inviting us to serve as part of something bigger than ourselves, with the goal that it will outlast not just our own lives, but the lives of our children’s children’s children.

It promotes a kind of selflessness that is also self-serving: By working for the future, you give meaning to your own life and legacy.

I am not suggesting that Biden is guided by Jewish text or tradition. But even so, to my mind, Biden has adhered to the philosophy of “l’dor vador” by admitting that he is not the best person to try to stop former President Donald Trump, who threatens to unravel American democracy and embrace policies that advance Christian nationalism, from returning to the White House. 

In making this decision, he is preserving and passing on the tradition of true public service — the idea that elected officials can and should put their egos second to the interest of a greater good — as well as that of democracy. 

And, in the spirit of “l’dor vador” — passing tradition forward — he has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, empowering her to be a leader of the next generation.

In stepping aside, Biden is letting those of us who wish to continue living in a democracy put the focus back where it should be: not on whether the Democratic presidential candidate is capable of speaking persuasively at a debate, but on the real threats posed by Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance. Biden, in stepping aside, is letting that case be made. He is giving the Democrats the chance to put up a real fight.

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, speaking before Biden’s announcement on Sunday, said that Biden should “pass the torch.” But Biden is not only passing the torch to Harris; he is passing a better chance at democracy to all Americans, those living and those not yet born. 

In the Talmud, there is the story of an unnamed man whom the scholar Honi finds planting a carob tree. Honi asks how long it will take for that tree to bear fruit; 70 years, the man says in reply. 

Honi is confused: Why would anyone put time into nurturing a plant the fruit of which they are unlikely to ever eat? The man has a simple answer: He “found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.”

Biden has, today, made the choice to plant for his descendants. With gratitude for his decision, and empathy for the personal struggle it took for him to get there, we can say “l’dor vador.” — and remember that the best American traditions, the ones that push us to keep what is good while also growing and changing, echoes this Jewish teaching. 

There is a famous story in which Benjamin Franklin, asked what kind of government the Constitutional Convention had come up with, responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” To keep something means to treasure it, to hold it close; it also means to preserve it, in order to pass it along. 

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